Surprise Adoption
by Demon Lord Satan
Summary: If Layton and Luke won't take Flora along on adventures, she might just have to join someone else instead. A series of one-shots that may or may not be connected, updated whenever I have ideas to add.


"Voila! I thought you might be hungry, so I made some little cucumber sand-" Flora paused, carrying a tray containing a teapot, two teacups, and a sizable stack of sandwiches. She looked around the empty office… that couldn't be right, could it? The Professor and Luke were just there! "Oh dear, where did they go?" She blinked a few times, trying to make sense of it.

"Professor? Luke? You didn't… leave without me again, did you?"

She received no answer, save the silence of the room. How could they do this? They had just promised not to leave her behind…

~.~.~

Desmond Sycamore glanced around to make certain no one was watching before peeking into Layton's office to make certain that the other man was not present. It wasn't that he wasn't supposed to be there, per se, but it still might invite some awkward questions. He didn't intend to meet up with Hershel, nor did he want any university staff to think he was there for a visit. He just wanted to temporarily borrow a book without permission—he'd give it back, and with Layton's office as disorganized as it was, it probably wouldn't even be missed. However, his thoughts were abruptly derailed as he saw that, while Layton wasn't there, someone else was.  
_Aurora?_

He shook his head slightly. No, that girl sitting on the sofa was definitely not the Azran girl, despite the slight resemblance. His curiosity had been piqued, however, and he slowly pushed the door open and entered Layton's office.

The young girl didn't appear to notice him at first, as she was mumbling under her breath without so much as a glance in his direction. Sycamore cleared his throat and inquired, "Excuse me, what are you doing here? Who are you?"

She momentarily appeared startled, then smiled and responded, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Flora Reinhold. Are you a friend of the professor's?"

"Er… Something like that. We've worked together. Professor Sycamore, pleasure to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Sycamore. Would you like a cucumber sandwich? They were _supposed_ to be for the professor and Luke, but _some people_ don't seem to realize that it's bad manners to run out on someone while they're getting you refreshments…"

Sycamore raised an eyebrow. "Hershel did that? What a di- I mean, that's not very gentleman-like. Those sandwiches look lovely. It'd be a shame for them to go to waste."

Flora giggled softly at his slip of the tongue as she served him a sandwich and a cup of tea. "At least someone has some manners," she quipped, seemingly in a much better mood.

"Ah- Thank you."

There was silence for several minutes as the two sipped tea and snacked on sandwiches, until Sycamore awkwardly began again. "So… You're Layton's girl? And he left you here alone?"

"Mhm… He usually does. They're always going off on adventures and they never want me tagging along…" A wistful note entered Flora's voice.

The professor suddenly felt an intense flash of irritation. His brother had adopted a daughter, and this was how he treated her? Leaving her behind, alone, while he went on adventures with Luke alone? Sycamore had lost his own daughter when she was very young, but if he ever had the chance, he would have loved to take her on trips and indulge her curiosity. He realized his mouth was moving before he even planned to speak and heard himself say, "I have an airship. What do you say we go on an adventure of our own?"

The girl stared at him, wide-eyed, and implored, "Can we? Please?"

"I'll even let you choose the destination."  
"Really?!"

"Ask nicely enough and I might teach you how to fly the ship." He couldn't help but smile as Flora squealed excitedly. As an afterthought, he added, "Oh, perhaps we should leave a note so they don't assume you've been kidnapped. Unless you'd rather let them worry? That might be a fitting revenge."

"No, no, I'll leave a note," she smiled innocently, grabbing a pen and paper from Layton's desk.

~.~.~

Later, when Layton and Luke returned, they would find that very note. In elegantly-penned script, it read:

_Dear Professor and Luke,_

_I hope your adventure was successful! I'm sorry I'm not there to offer you tea and sandwiches, but I've decided to go on a trip of my own. Your friend Professor Sycamore offered to let me fly in his airship. Don't worry, though, I'll come back to visit soon. I'll even stay for tea, as tempting as it might be to leave early. :)_

_Lots of love,_

_Flora_

At the bottom of that page, in a slightly messier hand, was scrawled:

_Don't worry, you won't even notice she's gone._

Layton pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes in shame, commenting, "I do believe we've upset her. This is… quite unfortunate."

* * *

Special thanks to a few members of the Team Top Hat Romhacking discord server for this idea!


End file.
